Consumer Reports style metrics for comparing mail order hobby shops?

[learmoia]

Sounds odd, huh..

I'm working on accumulating equipment for a Flexi-van train, and it's turning into a multi-order adventure with several hobby shops.. (7 or 8 so far?)

Since all of this is taking place within a span of a couple of weeks and I'm ordering generally the same thing from every shop...
I thought it might be interesting to catalog all of the details for a side by side comparison/review.  (The results have been interesting so far)..

The reason for writing, can anyone think of metrics that I should keep in eye out for?
Apart from the obvious: MSRP % Discount, Shipping Cost, Order Date, Confirmation Date, Ship Date, Communication, Ship Distance, Receive Date, Packing quality, Damage Y/N.  Notes of any order issues.

Any thoughts on how to quantify Communication, or Packing Quality?  In hindsight, I should have tracked packing material for the first 2 boxes..

Thoughts?

Is this worth taking the time to do?

[wvgca]

probably worth while doing as others would use it as well....
probably the fastest / easiest would be to lay it out in a spreadsheet,
only question is 'which one' , lol

[nickelplate759]

For communication, I'd look at this as "expected"
1. confirmation of order received within 24 hours of placement.
2. Notification of shipment of order
3. If order is delayed more than 30 days, notification of delay.
3. tracking info for shipment.

[learmoia]

For communication, I'd look at this as "expected"
1. confirmation of order received within 24 hours of placement.
2. Notification of shipment of order
3. If order is delayed more than 30 days, notification of delay.
3. tracking info for shipment.

30 DAYS!?!?   

In this case, I'm ordering in stock products, so the only delay should be processing and shipping the order.

Maybe (2-3 business days) from Click to Ship?

Great thought on metrics.  Except for maybe my first shipment I have all of that data.

probably worth while doing as others would use it as well....
probably the fastest / easiest would be to lay it out in a spreadsheet,
only question is 'which one' , lol

I figured I'd do a spreadsheet.. (Normally I'm an Excel user, but I could convert it to a Google doc or whatever if needed).
Some of these experiences will need a spot for narrative due to some odd situations that have come up.

~Ian

[nickelplate759]

30 DAYS!?!?   

In this case, I'm ordering in stock products, so the only delay should be processing and shipping the order.

Maybe (2-3 business days) from Click to Ship?

Great thought on metrics.  Except for maybe my first shipment I have all of that data.

I figured I'd do a spreadsheet.. (Normally I'm an Excel user, but I could convert it to a Google doc or whatever if needed).
Some of these experiences will need a spot for narrative due to some odd situations that have come up.

~Ian

I recall that 30 days is a legal requirement - if a vendor charges you for an item and it is delayed, they have to notify you within 30 days.  Not all vendors do this.
Ideally, they shouldn't charge you until they are ready ship, and ideally they should let you know if they expect to have any delay at all.

[learmoia]

I recall that 30 days is a legal requirement - if a vendor charges you for an item and it is delayed, they have to notify you within 30 days.  Not all vendors do this.
Ideally, they shouldn't charge you until they are ready ship, and ideally they should let you know if they expect to have any delay at all.

Oh ok, I understand now... Well, hopefully that isn't an issue here.   

[learmoia]

Hobby Shop      Name
Type            On Line/Brick&Mortor
Location        City/State for B&M
Order Date      Order Date
Confirmation    Order Confirmation Date
Charge Date     CC Charge Date
Packed          Date Packed (if avail)
Shipped         Date Shipped
Click to Ship   Days from Order Date to Shipped Date
Ship Via        USPS, UPS, Fedex
Tracking #      Y/N
Received        Received Date
Packing Quality Tier list S>F
Box Damage      Y/N
Item Damage     Y/N
Distance        Distance Traveled
Order Speed     Days from Order Date to Received Date
Total MRSP      MSRP Total of products purchased
Total Cost      Total Cost of Products purchased
Discount        % Off MSRP
On Sale         Was the shop promoting a Sale/Discount
Tax             Tax paid
Shipping        Shipping Paid
Total           Order Total
Notes           Any Notes on experience.

[John]

If you list negative information, you should give the shop a chance to respond .. BBB does that

[nickelplate759]

I think Location is important for all vendors, not just B&M vendors.

[learmoia]

If you list negative information, you should give the shop a chance to respond .. BBB does that

Agreed, any negative information would also include the shops response / resolution. 

In one case, I even gave an dealer a second order as a chance to redeem himself.. (Loooong story)..

I think Location is important for all vendors, not just B&M vendors.

Well sure, for figuring distance for package travel... One of my listings is a private seller, so I was going to be obscure for location for some people.
I wasn't going to list Address/City/State/Zip for a guy selling on Ebay or N scale Yard Sale..

~Ian

[learmoia]

Just a quick update... I have completed records for 5 orders/purchases:
Hiawatha Hobbies
Lombard Hobbies
A Private Seller on Groups.IO
An Ebay Seller from New York
Stone Creations
Any negatives have been communicated with the respective parties when possible..

Only 2 of the above were flawless from start to finish.

I'm and waiting for items from 3 more dealers..

Also working on an order with N Scale Kits, and so far, I can't say enough good things. 

More soon.

[learmoia]

Huh.....
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]



From the lead page on the site...
"*Promotion valid May 2nd through May 8th, 2022. Discount excludes select new release Athearn and Broadway Limited products and all Soundtraxx, Diecast Masters, Lionel and Showcase Miniatures products."

Edit.. I got it to work later on a second try..  Between Shipping and Tax, the cost was still more than compeditors...

[learmoia]

Deleted....  Need to find a better way to post results..

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So here's a thought on this. While I appreciate the desire to help out, you need to be careful with stuff like this because you are creating a monster that will need to be constantly attended to.

How are you going to maintain the list? What about when shops close or move? What's your plan to deal with threats of litigation from negatively reviewed shops?

I don't want to discourage you, but I want you to be prepared.

[learmoia]

So here's a thought on this. While I appreciate the desire to help out, you need to be careful with stuff like this because you are creating a monster that will need to be constantly attended to.

How are you going to maintain the list? What about when shops close or move? What's your plan to deal with threats of litigation from negatively reviewed shops?

I don't want to discourage you, but I want you to be prepared.

I've been thinking about that a bit...  I think the project is going to end when I get my N scale Kits order... unless I need to do a Micro-Scale order.. 

I never thought it was fair to rank or discuss shops based on personal opinion.  My main goal was to track hobby shop performance of on line stores and transactions in an apples to apples environment.  It was never intended to be a list of hobby shops, or a compilation of hobby shop reviews.

As I think @John suggested, I always shared my negatives with the shops themselves (just in the sense of getting the orders fixed/filled/returned/ect, I would then let them know of the project, and nobody voiced objections.

Legal action?.. Nahh... looking at an average Yelp or Google Review page, what I'm doing is pretty tame in comparison. 

The one thing I'm going to remove from my public data.. is item prices, as I don't want anyone to think they were judged higher or lower based on their price.